Combination beach robe and rug



may 5, 1936. I T M TNY 2,040,029,

COMBINATION BEACH ROBE AND RUG Filed Feb. 26, 1936 ATTORNEY.

Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLIBIN'ATION BEACH ROBE AND RUG Application February 26, 1936, Serial No. 65,766'

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an article of manufacture consisting of a combined-beach rug and robe, and has for its general object to provide a combination article of this character so designed that it can be fabricated at a cost that will permit the articles to be marketed at a favorable price.

Under existing regulations, at substantially all of the bathing beaches throughout the United States, concerning the robing and disrobing by bathers, on the beach proper, and in-automobiles at the beach or on adjacent portions of the roads leading to such beaches, only agarment of at least the general nature ofa robe is universally acceptable, and existing forms of robes have'the common disadvantage of being unduly conspicuous as a street costume.

Numerous attempts have been made to meet the need for an article which embodies in a unitary structure the elements necessary to form a garment that can be worn on-the street, and which will also comply with the aforesaid regulations and serve as a practical robe when 'so "used, and some of these attempts have resulted in the production of articles of this type upon which patents have been granted, but which have not been satisfactory in use, for variousreasons.

The principal difficulty has been to effect a reconcilement between the demand for acertain finished appearance in the garment, where worn away from the beach, without undue expense in its construction, and undue complexity in the structure by which the change from bath robe to street garment is made possible and the converse change from street garment to bath acces-' sory.

This difficulty has been aggravated by the attempts to make the body of the garment of a single oblong piece of material,both with a view to economy of material, and to furnish a beach rug which will lie fiat and square when fully extended, such attempts having-also resulted in patented structures that have not given entire satisfaction in use.

A particular disadvantage of certain of the patented structures has been the adoption of a design which includes theuseof ties as the means for securing together the-component flaps of the flat piece of fabric when formed into a garment. Such ties, while serviceable in a bathrobe, are not acceptable for the desired street use;

Another disadvantage of such articles has been their organization with a continuous stretch of the body piece from the neck-opening to the bottom of the skirt panel, makingit diflicult, if'not as a means for drying the body, and is also useful 10' in general as an accessory of the bath biit requires a skillfulness in design when; utilized as material for a street garment thathas not been exhibited in the patented structures.

Under such conditions, it is-a particular object of the pr'esentinvention to provide, and the-invention has provided, an article which eliminates the 'above difii'culties and comprises a unitary structure in which substantially the entire garment'body, including skirt and sleeves, is made of a single piece of fabric, oblong in form and adapted to lie flat and square when extended for use as a rug, and which accords, in a single row of buttons, with complemental buttonholes, the entire equipment required for completing" the formation at will of 'either'a bath robe, or a street costume of sufficiently modis'h" appearance t6 serve as a suit or dress.

A cognate object is toprovide a novel structural arrangement of theelements of the aforesaid garment such that a fabric of the nature of towelling can be used advantageously.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will appear as the descriptionof'the' particular physical embodiment of the inventionselected for illustration progresses.

In the accompanying drawing like characters of reference areapplied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a combined beach rug and r-obe in the construction of which the present invention has been embodied;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation on a larger scale of the'article of Fig. 1 illustrated in place a single piece of fabric of thenature oftowelling," 5'5 and desirably such a fabric as that known to the trade as Terry Cloth.

In the instance illustrated it is of rectangular over-all shape, and when fully extended may be employed usefully as a beach rug or like accessory for the bath, and for similar purposes, the absorbent nature of the towelling making it available for drying the body of the user and its fiat shape facilitating its folding for transportation and storage.

In pursuance of an important object of the invention, the article is also adapted to be arranged for use as a robe, substantially in the manner shown in Fig. 2, in which the article of Fig. l is shown in position upon the body of a wearer, this view illustrating clearly the modish effect produced by certain details of structure herein disclosed, and by which the article of the present invention is distinguished from various articles provided for a similar combination of uses but which have lacked the style of a finished dress, suit or like garment adapted for use upon the street.

For the last-named purpose, the body portion II as shown in Fig. 1, has a pair of slits l2, [3, extending inwardly, one from each margin of the piece l0, part way from the sides respectively toward the major axis of the piece, at about the median transverse region thereof, the piece having a length desirably about twice its breadth so that the line in which the slits are formed defines approximately the waist line of the wearer, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

When so worn, the robe is donned by slipping over the head of the wearer the panel 14, in which is formed a slit I6 to permit this operation, and the skirt is formed by wrapping around the loins and lower limbs of the wearer the panel or lower part of the piece which is designated by the reference character I5, in the manner shown in Fig, 2.

The free edge I! of the upper panel drapes itself naturally over the shoulders, and after the wearer has secured together the flaps of the skirt, l8 and 19, by means now to be described, the free edge I! of the upper panel is also secured at the waist to give the desired effect.

In fabricating the combined beach rug and robe from a one-piece body member, the lateral margins thereof may be, and preferably are, provided throughout their extent with a selvage 20, as by folding the edges over and hemming or stitching them in known fashion, as shown. Such a. hem or selvage may also be formed at that margin of each slit which constitutes part of the lower border of the upper panel I4, for example, as shown at 20x in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 where the overlapping flap edge I! is turned back to reveal the underlying structure.

. The material for hem 28a: is in a sense secured from that margin of each slit which extends along the upper border of the skirt flap I8 or I9, as the case may be, and in order to replace this material with a member which will constitute part of the waistband, each such upper flap border is, in pursuance of the invention, provided with a strip, as 2| and 22, shown as of double thickness and stitched to the upper portions of the panel IS, in conventional manner, as indicated at 23, on each side thereof.

Each of these waistband components is provided as at 24 and 25, with a fastener, preferably a button, and the member 2| has three buttons 26, arranged in a group in alignment with the buttons 24, 25, while the member 22 has complemental buttonholes 21 in a group arranged to register with the buttons.

When the panel I5 is wrapped around to form the skirt, its flaps I8 and I9 are disposed in overlapping relation to each other, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, and the waist-band parts 21 and 22 are buttoned together, so that the skirt is secured in place, regardless of any securement of the upper panel 14 at its free edge [1.

In pursuance of another important object of the present invention, however, which is to provide for a more modish effect at the front region of the waist line than has characterized articles of this general type heretofore, I have formed in the free edge I! of the upper panel M a series of buttonholes 28, of which there are five in the present instance, although the provision of that number is not intended to exclude the use of a larger series thereof or fewer if the present object can be satisfactorily attained by a different number than five, the primary feature being to define a waist-line effect that will impart a finished appearance to the robe, so that, with a minimum of expense and of effort on the part of the user the robe will be caused to present the effect of a suit or dress for street wear.

It will be noted that the middle three buttons as 28, will be engaged with the three buttonholes of the middle portion of the series 21, on the free edge I1 of the upper panel l4, while the end buttonholes thereof receive the end buttons 24 and 25, the latter being preferably so spaced as to create an effect of extending the waist-line to a substantial distance around the sides of the wearers waist.

It will be noted that, in contradistinction from certain articles of the known art, the present article provides for an integral formation of the panel [4 at the back of the wearer, in continuance of the rear skirt panel, and this makes it possible, if so desired, to provide for as much form-fitting at the back of the robe as may comport with the general character of the garment, by a suitable disposition of the several series of buttons and buttonholes.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a combined beach rug and robe comprising an elongated body of fabric of the nature of towelling adapted for arrangement in a fully extended, substantially flat disposition for use as a rug, and also disposable selectively in a folded arrangement as a robe; said article being further characterized by the formation of said fabric body as a substantially rectangular oblong having a length approximately double its width, being divided partially at its median region by slits extending from opposite margins toward its major axis, said slits defining the waist line of a garment having a skirt portion to be wrapped about said major axis, enclosing'the loins and lower limbs of the wearer, the moiety of said fabric body beyond said Waist line constituting a panel having a portion integral with said skirt portion and in direct continuance thereof at the rear of the robe, the free edge of said last named panel being foldable on a transverse axis intersecting the major axis at the shoulder line of the wearer, and formed with a slit at the region of said intersection adapted to receive the wearers head; and means to secure together removably across the front waist region the front medial portion of the free lower edge of said folded-over panel and the underlying contiguous edges of said waist-defining slits, said means being effective also to secure the skirt in closed position, thereby completing the organization of said article as a garment.

2. A combined beach rug and robe constituted as set forth in claim 1, and further characterized by having said securing means include a series of buttons attached to a waist-band member along the skirt flap edge defined by said slit at one side of the body, a series of complemental buttonholes in registering position upon the other skirt flap edge, whereby said upper skirt edges can be buttoned together in overlapping relation to each other to form a continuous waist-band, for securement of the skirt flaps in closed position, independently of any securement of the free edge of the flap depending from the wearers shoulder line, and a series of buttonholes formed in the free edge of said depending flap adapted to register with said waist-band buttons and serving to permit the wearer to secure said free edge at will to said waist-band, thereby to impart to said robe the effect of a finished suit or dress.

3. A combined beach rug and robe constituted as set forth in claim 1, and further characterized by having the edges of said body folded upon themselves and stitched to form selvages throughout the borders of said article, including the borders of the slits respectively defining the lower boundary of the upper panel; and a pair of false selvage pieces secured along the upper edges of the skirt flaps adjacent to the slits and serving as complemental waist-band components, one of which is provided with a group of buttons and the other with a coacting group of buttonholes, each of said waist-band components having an auxiliary button in alignment with the buttons of said first-named group, and a series of buttonholes formed in the free edge of the depending fiap of the upper panel and corresponding in number and position to the buttons of the first-named group and to the auxiliary buttons, so that the waist efiect is carried around by the line of buttons entirely across the front of the robe and for a substantial distance at the sides thereof.

THEODORE J. SMU'I'NY. 

